Do Women Succeed Differently?
Communication, team engagement, and customer centricity, are three ways women may contribute differently.
Bridgette Brennan in her bestselling book ‘Why She Buys’ puts forth a powerful set of statistics and well documented studies in explaining in detail why gender is the most powerful determinant of how a person views the world and everything in it and how biology dictates behaviour in every species. It is more powerful than age, income, race or geography. Yet even though 80% of key buying decisions are made by women 90% of key business decisions are made by men. 
Women are the primary shopper for their households and they are buying not only for themselves but also for everyone else – spouse, children, friends, family, colleagues and increasingly their older parents. Yet men occupy 97% of Fortune 1,000 CEO positions 66% of the top marketing positions and most of the agency creative head positions.
The easiest way to get closer to our customers has to be to put more women in key decision making positions.
Understanding how women differ in their decision making process can provide businesses with a significant competitive advantage wherever you operate around the world.
The western world may feel smug in the fact that women have more equality and opportunity than in the Middle East, Africa or Asia but is it a false smugness?
The western world is suffering from an extraordinary lack of women entrepreneurs and business leaders and it is not just a gender gap but a canyon and an incredible opportunity for us to re-make our self with more insight and thereby capitalize on greater opportunities.
The Marketing to Moms coalition has reported that nearly half of women feel corporations are not doing a great job of connecting with them or serving their needs well. McKinsey reports that although 55% of university graduates in Europe are women their employment rate is 21% lower. At this rate how will they or we ever gain the balance in senior management needed for maximum corporate performance?
For more on the Eight Attributes of Success click here
In politics if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.
Margaret Thatcher,
Barbara Bush had some wise advice: Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps, and preside over the White House as the President's spouse. I wish him well! Barbara Bush, First Lady [at Wellesley College Commencement]
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